Chapter 38
Prices in A-level service areas are much higher than in novice service areas, almost three times higher. Some are even more than three times higher.
However, players now have more experience points, and most can afford to spend them.
It's rare to have a three-day holiday, and no matter what the future holds, Qiao Ning and her friends definitely want to cherish and enjoy these three days. As for the future, no one can say for sure. In a survival game, no one can guarantee a tomorrow; you can only cherish the present.
Aunt Bai had something on her mind and couldn't join in the fun, so she made an excuse to leave. The other girls understood, saying that putting themselves in her shoes, any mother would find it hard to enjoy herself if her daughter's life was in danger.
If the beginner service area is like a bustling commercial street, then the A-level service area is more like a metropolis. Pets are prohibited in most areas, but players and pets of all kinds can roam freely in a few areas, but all forms of conflict and private fighting are prohibited.
The girls paid the robot tour guide 3 experience points each and it led them on a tour. Their first stop was the most spectacular restaurant in the entire service area, Cloud Island Garden Restaurant.
The entrance fee is 100 experience points, the service fee is 200 experience points, and each person must spend at least 500 experience points.
When Qiao Ning entered, she noticed an advertising sign at the entrance that read: "All building materials for Cloud Island Garden Restaurant are sponsored by [Cloud Survival Game], and we would like to express our gratitude."
Survival in the Clouds? Qiao Ning couldn't imagine what kind of survival mode that was. Judging from the words, it must be another survival game.
Could it be that besides road survival games, there are other modes of survival games? And are these games interconnected?
Qiao Ning was filled with doubts, but no one could explain it to her, so she could only suppress them and wait for a chance to find out later.
There were two receptionists: one was a blonde beauty with delicate features, a slim waist, and long legs; the other was a handsome man in a white shirt and black vest with short black hair and purple eyes. Both were robots, but their speech and behavior were almost indistinguishable from humans.
If it weren't for their name tags, people wouldn't even know they were robots.
"Good evening, distinguished guests. May I ask what services you would like? Our Yundao Garden Restaurant primarily offers catering services, with separate areas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, and late-night snacks. Other ancillary services include bathing, massage, fitness, cinema, accommodation, chess and card games, and more."
"We will do our best to meet any service needs our customers have."
It was not yet 1 a.m., and after discussing it, Qiao Ning and the others decided to have a late-night snack first, then go to a bathhouse, then play some games in the card room, then get a massage, and finally comfortably choose a luxurious and beautiful presidential suite to sleep in.
Before they arrived, Pei Jing insisted that she treat them to a meal. This girl was very generous and didn't hesitate to spend her experience points.
As the top-ranked killer on the kill leaderboard, surpassing even Yuan Heng, she probably has the most experience points in the entire region. Moreover, she uses many of her resources to exchange for experience, unlike Qiao Ning who typically uses them to exchange for materials.
Miao Qinghe is from a coastal area in the south and loves seafood. Pei Jing and Qiao Ning have rather eclectic tastes; they enjoy any kind of delicious food. If they had to choose a preference, they both love the extra spicy Sichuan style.
Tao Tao loves to eat meat, all kinds of meat, but she doesn't like fish with many bones.
After considering everyone's preferences, barbecue was decided as the late-night snack. Those who wanted seafood could order seafood, those who wanted spicy food could order extra spicy food, and those who wanted meat could order meat skewers. Everyone's taste preferences could be satisfied.
The four girls were all incredibly capable, and they devoured a total of eight enormous lobsters, piled up oyster and scallop shells like small mountains, and ate dozens of king crab legs at a time.
There were also platters of crayfish in various flavors. Tao Tao mainly ate meat skewers and lettuce wraps with grilled meat. Lamb skewers, beef skewers, lamb kidneys, grilled beef tendon, and grilled chicken feet.
Qiao Ning tried a skewer of grilled pigeon belly and instantly fell in love with the taste, devouring many more skewers in a row.
There are also beef blood cubes sprinkled with sauce, cumin powder, and chili powder; one bite and they are tender, fragrant, and delicious.
The barbecue at this restaurant was far better than any restaurant she had ever eaten at before; the taste was absolutely amazing.
After finishing their meal, the group walked out of the barbecue hall arm in arm and were led to the bathhouse by a dedicated waiter.
Basic showers are free, but if you choose a private room or a limited private room, you will need to pay extra. In addition, any other services offered during the shower will also incur additional charges.
Miao Qinghe and Qiao Ning were not used to bathing with others, but Tao Tao and Pei Jing did not mind. They booked a luxury private room with a floral theme to bathe together. Qinghe chose the "small bridge and flowing water" room, while Qiao Ning chose the "snow scene hot spring" room.
The snow-covered hot springs are incredibly beautiful and not cold at all. You can enjoy a drink and some fruit while soaking in the hot springs, with the snow-covered night sky overhead. It's an absolute delight.
The only downside was that the soundproofing of the snow-view hot spring room didn't seem very good, forcing Qiao Ning to overhear some gossip.
The private bath next door seemed to be a mixed-gender bath, as the voices could be heard from both men and women.
"I heard that someone got wind of the fact that our next disaster will involve merging with a powerful server. That server has a lot of top players, and all the ranking data is much higher than ours."
"Qiao Ning from our district is doing quite well now, but I reckon her skills won't be enough to stand out in the end. She'll be lucky to even make it into the top ten."
"Qiao Ning? She's nothing special. The only ones I find appealing are Pei Jing and Yuan Heng. The information I've received about Qiao Ning is that she's been lucky; she's the kind of person who's gotten ahead by doing nothing."
"Really? I think she's number one overall. You can't get first place on this list without some real talent."
"That makes sense, but there are exceptions, like the 'Lucky Ones.' They have no other skills, just incredible luck. If I encounter someone like that, I might outwardly admire them but inwardly resent them. Relying on luck to keep going is a recipe for disaster. Who can guarantee they'll be lucky forever? Do they really think they're some kind of reincarnated lucky charm?"
One girl couldn't stand it anymore: "Brother Wang, you can't say that. Luck is also a kind of ability..."
“You’re just a young college student who hasn’t entered the workforce, so you don’t understand. Your brother Wang has been working in the corporate world for years and has seen all kinds of people. Many people can be successful for a while, but few can stay successful forever. The latter are the ones with real skills.”
"Luck is an elusive thing, and we can't rely on Qiao Ning's luck anyway. It would be better if we could bring Pei Jing and Yuan Heng into our alliance. If that doesn't work, we can only wait until the next natural disaster arrives and see which servers we can fill with."
"Then find a powerful server to join."
“I agree that we need to find a reliable force to rely on,” the girl said. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that this game is currently a single-player game; it’s actually a disguised form of a group game.”
"I still have faith in Qiao Ning. Even if, as you said, she only has luck, the fact that she managed to take first place on all six lists shows just how terrifying her luck is. In movies and novels, people who go against such a lucky person never have a good ending. I don't want to be a cannon fodder female supporting character."
A girl like her, who is just average in every way, might be able to survive a few more natural disasters by clinging to the coattails of a lucky person.
"Xiao Ying, listen to Brother Wang. I think what Brother Wang said makes sense..." someone advised.
Xiao Ying, however, insisted on her own idea.
"Don't try to persuade her anymore. She'll know I'm right once she hits a wall. Xiao Ying is too naive. She's just blinded by Qiao Ning's apparent success because she unlocked the pet system ahead of time."
"Forget it, let's wait until the next natural disaster officially fills the area. If the top players in other servers are significantly stronger than those in our server, then we should choose a different server as soon as possible."
They started talking about other things. Qiao Ning had soaked for a while, so she washed herself, got up, put on her bathrobe, picked up a glass of fruit wine from the table, and drank it all in one go.
After sitting and flipping through a magazine for a while, Qiao Ning received a private message from Pei Jing saying that they were all ready and waiting outside.
After simply changing into a beige casual outfit and denim sneakers, and styling her hair in a high ponytail, Qiao Ning went out without makeup. Since entering the survival game, she hadn't felt like putting on makeup, but luckily her natural beauty was enough; she actually looked better without it.
Some classmates used to say that she wore makeup as if she was trying to hide her beauty.
Although it sounds exaggerated, it's really true. It's just that Qiao Ning's features and temperament are unique. Without makeup, coupled with her cold and aloof aura, she creates a sense of distance that makes people hesitant to approach her.
"Qiaoqiao, you're here! Come on, come on, the elevator is just ahead, and the card room is on the ninth floor."
"Oh well."
Qiao Ning followed them into the elevator, but when the elevator doors opened, there were already three men and two women inside, and they were pressing the ninth floor.
"President Pei? What are you doing here? I've sent you so many messages but you haven't replied..." A handsome single-eyelid man with a Korean-style wavy hairstyle spotted Pei Jing at a glance and greeted her happily.
Pei Jing coughed lightly and whispered in Qiao Ning's ear, "His name is Xia Yang. In the real world, I am his boss, and he is my assistant... well, a more personal kind of assistant."
"But not long after we entered the game, we broke up. His boss has now been replaced by the woman next to him. But I heard that this woman is much better at playing the game than I am, and she has more than one Xia Yang clinging to her."
Qiao Ning understood immediately.
"What a coincidence! I came here with my friends, and you guys..."
Qiao Ning silently watched the group of men and women exchange pleasantries. Afterwards, they went into the card room, where Qiao Ning chose a comfortable sofa and lay down, watching her friends play.
"Qiaoqiao, aren't you going to play?"
Qiao Ning waved her hand: "I'm not playing, you guys play."
These board and card games are games, after all.
She plays these games in a way that's a bit bullying.
Tao Tao is simple-minded, and whether it's playing chess or cards, she's completely outmatched by Pei Jing. Miao Qinghe can't beat Pei Jing either, and even other people who see them having fun come over to join in.
Xia Yang tried to talk to Pei Jing several times, but was turned away each time. In the end, Pei Jing whispered something to him, and he didn't dare to approach her again.
"Look, the projector TV in this card room seems to be broadcasting players from other servers."
Qiao Ning looked up from her drowsy state and saw the server number [0768] written in large letters in the upper left corner of the projector screen.
Fallen Zone, Natural Disaster Type, Volcanic Eruption.
The current number of survivors is 5,042.
Just as Qiao Ning was about to take a closer look, her eyes were blinded by the screen full of blood.
"Holy crap, what was that just now? It was a huge dinosaur! Did that player get eaten up by the giant dinosaur, car and all?"
"The natural disaster type is a volcanic eruption. My God, with that lava erupting, there's nowhere for players to hide!"
"I saw some players whose vehicles were clearly at a high level, but they were instantly melted by lava. If players really encountered such a natural disaster, they wouldn't be able to survive at all, right?"
"Is this what happens when the survival rate is below 20%? Is this the upgraded catastrophe? It's terrifying. Even bystanders feel hopeless watching it, let alone the players actually facing the catastrophe..."
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